Hello ladies and gents! Today we're (well, I'm) going to discuss the sexiness known as dieting. When I refer to "dieting," I'm not talking about eating less/better; I'm talking about things like Weight Watchers, the Atkins Diet, Jenny Craig, etc. When you want to lose weight, the best thing to do is to change your overall lifestyle to be healthier and lose weight gradually. It's far easier to keep off because 1) I don't remember, I just remember it is and 2) it's a new LIFESTYLE, so it's your new LIFE.

When you start a diet that requires you to deprive yourself, you're setting yourself up for failure. If you manage to not break during your diet, what happens when you're "finished" with it? Simple: you gain it all back. You indulge and you're no longer depriving yourself. That is why I endorse just changing your overall eating habits. I just eat less overall and less processed food. That doesn't mean that I don't treat myself, I just treat myself a bit less. 

Tracking my calories and nutrition helps me make sure I'm not overeating and that I don't get down on myself when I do. Tracking calories isn't for everyone, but it's the only way that I personally can manage portion control. When I stop using my calorie counter, I have trouble sticking to smaller portions, though after using it I am WAY better at it. :)

Now, maybe I should address the title and ACTUALLY write about THE DANGERS OF DIETING instead of preaching. :)

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES

When you follow fad diets and cut out things like carbs or fats, you can stop getting the nutrition that you need. "Following a low-carbohydrate diet can cause high blood pressure and the unhealthy release of ketones, compounds made during the burning of fat. Ketones can build up in the blood, causing nausea and weakness." (Source) High protein diets mean that you don't get the energy from carbs that your body uses as fuel. If you're eating way more beef it can be bad for your heart because of higher cholesterol and saturated fat levels.

When you follow random "fad" diets, you can stop getting the vitamins and minerals that you need to SURVIVE. That's bad. 

YO YO DIETING

Yo-yo dieting is when you lose a bunch of weight, gain it back, then lose it again in an endless cycle of weight change. This can be hard on your body and on your self esteem. Continuously changing your weight has been shown to lower the number of white blood cells your body makes, which basically means that it weakens your immune system. 

"Other studies suggest that constant weight gain and subsequent weight loss may increase your risk for certain health problems, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and gall bladder disease.

Additionally, the psychological factor of yo-yo dieting cannot be neglected. Some studies have found that women who experience large weight fluctuations also experience an increased measure of psychological distress, life dissatisfaction and reduced levels of self-efficacy. " (Source)

YOU'LL PROBABLY GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK

When you go on a diet, lose weight, then go back to the way you ate before, you're probably going to gain it all back because *shock* NOTHING HAS CHANGED. Then you enter that yo-yo dieting thing mentioned above.

Furthermore, when you lose weight and gain it back, you frequently gain back even more than you originally lost. That's why I think it's so much better for you to change to a healthier lifestyle. You can safely and healthily lose weight at a gradual rate and then keep it off. You'll be healthier and feel healthier if you just LIVE HEALTHIER.

<3 - CFC

Hey everyone, sorry that it's been FOR-EVER. I recently got laid off (on my birthday) and job hunting and dealing with unemployment is busier and far more draining than a full time job was.

Today, I've decided to write about feeling like a big, fat hypocrite. Also, to go on a side tangent about the word fat. LET'S GO!

BEING A FAT HYPOCRITE

First, I'd like to write about how I feel like a fat hypocrite on here. I am fat, I have no issue with fat people, and I consider myself a supporter of fat advocacy (as I explained before, I do not feel that I am active enough to consider myself an actual advocate). That being said, a lot of this blog is about me trying to lose weight/be healthier and blogging about stuff related to that.

It makes me feel like a fat hypocrite because I want to change my own body, while at the same time preaching that others should accept theirs. Despite wanting to change my body and lose weight, I ACCEPT MY BODY AS IT IS RIGHT NOW. I really want you guys to understand that. I think that I'm damn sexy and you should too (think that YOU'RE damn sexy, that is). I need my weight loss for health reasons. First was high blood pressure (totally kicked its ass, btw), but diabetes and other stuff runs in my family. I'm being more active and eating healthier not to improve my body image (though I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a part of it), but to improve my life overall. I don't care if people are thin or perfect, I care that they are healthy and happy. I'm super happy with myself now, not because I lost weight but because I can keep up with my friends better. It's an amazing feeling.

Let me be very clear: I AM NOT SAYING THAT YOU NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT. I don't know you (but I love you), I don't know your body (other than you're reading this so you MUST be sexy), and I don't know your situation. THAT BEING SAID: I think that everyone should strive to be healthier in general. Be active, which doesn't mean you have to go to the gym. I just happen to like going there. Just because I blog about it and do it myself doesn't mean that YOU have to. Our bodies were made to move so we should move them. :D

I blogged about the obesity epidemic previously. Since then, I have done a lot of reading on it and I don't think that it's quite what everyone is making it out to be. THAT BEING SAID, I think there IS an epidemic (hell, a pandemic) of bad food. And by bad food, I mean BAD food such as fast food, junk food, and all the food made out of highly processed and refined products. It's not that you can't have that sort of crap sometimes (I do :3), but we should all strive to eat better just for our health. We're eating poorly and becoming more sedentary and THAT is the epidemic we're experiencing- one of unhealthy living.

A TANGENT ON THE WORD FAT

Lately I've been reading books written by fat chicks for fat chicks (Fat Chicks Rule! and The Fat Girl's Guide to Life. I highly recommend them.) and they both made a very good point that I am now noticing: people are uncomfortable with the f-word. And by f-word, I mean the word FAT.

The word FAT makes people VERY uncomfortable to hear. When I call myself fat (jokingly or otherwise) or say that I'm having a "fat day", people immediately are like, "YOU'RE NOT FAT!" or "DON'T SAY THAT!" Dudes, chill (also, I'll say whatever the hell I want). I especially hate when people tell me "don't say that." Number one, I can say whatever I want and two, I'm not saying anything wrong.

I suppose that they have "good" intentions, but I'm not blind. I am FAT and there is nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is denying it or treating it like some God-awful sin. People associate the word fat with characteristics such as lazy, stupid, lacking will power, ignorant,  and gluttony. Just because you're fat doesn't mean that you're any of those things. It just means that you're fat and that's okay.

Fat is not a dirty word and it amazes me how uncomfortable it makes people. I said to a thin friend that I was having a "fat" day and she told me not to say that. What the hell? It's not like I said the four letter f-word. People, I am fat and you're blind if you can't see that and a tool if it truly bothers you. 

Fat (as defined by Google): 

Noun
A natural oily or greasy substance occurring in animal bodies, esp. when deposited as a layer under the skin or around certain organs.

Adjective
(of a person or animal) Having a large amount of excess flesh.

Verb
Make or become fat: "numbers of cattle are fatted here".

So what in that definition is offensive? The word fat is associated with so many negative things like the ones I mentioned above; those things aren't "fat", they're society's messed up view of fat people.

There is NOTHING wrong with the word fat, people! I AM FAT. I AM FAT. FAT, FAT, FAT!!! GET OVER IT. The word fat has become like a dirty word and once you refuse to say a word, you give that word power. I feel like Harry Potter being one of the only ones willing to say Lord Voldemort's name. VOLDEMORT. FAT. VOLDEMORT. FAT. FAT VOLDEMORT (LOL).

So in summary, I'm sorry if I seem like a FAT hypocrite (I try very hard not to be) and FAT IS NOT A DIRTY WORD.

<3 - CFC